interrogated as we entered, but from his total
ignorance of German the examination was not
proceeding very glibly.

"You're an Englishman, ain't you?" cried he,
as I came in. "You can speak High Dutch,
perhaps?"

"I can speak German well enough to be
intelligible, sir."

"All right," said he, in the same free-and-easy
tone. "Will you explain to those old beggars
there that they're making fools of themselves.
Here's how it is. My passport was made out for
two; for Thomas Harpar, that's me, and Sam
Rigges. Now, because Sam Rigges ain't here,
they tell me I can't be suffered to proceed. Ain't
that stupid? Did you ever here the like of that
for downright absurdity before?"

"But where is he?"

"Well, I don't mind telling you, because you're
a countryman, but I don't like blackening an
Englishman to one of those confounded foreigners.
Rigges has run."

"What do you mean by 'run'?"

"I mean, cut his stick; gone clean away; and
what's worse, too, carried off a stout bag of
dollars with him that we had for our journey."

"Whither were you going?"

"That's neither here nor there, and don't
concern you in any respect. What you've to do is,
explain to the old cove yonder— the fellow in
the middle is the worst of them— tell him it's all
right, that I'm Harpar, and that the other ain't
here; or look here, I'll tell you what's better, do
you be Rigges, and it's all right."

I demurred flatly to this suggestion, but undertook
to plead his cause on its true merits.

"And who are you, sir, that presume to play
the advocate here?" said the judge, haughtily.
"I fancied that you stood there to answer a
charge against yourself."

"That matter maybe very speedily disposed
of, sir," said I, as proudly; "and you will be
very fortunate if you succeed as readily in
explaining your own illegal arrest of me to the
higher court of your country."

With the eloquence which we are told
essentially belongs to truth, I narrated how I had
witnessed, as a mere passing traveller, the
outrageous insult offered to these poor wanderers as
they entered the inn. With the warm enthusiasm
of one inspired by a good cause, I painted the
whole incidents with really scarcely a touch of
embellishment, reserving the only decorative portion
to a description of myself, whom I mentioned as
an agent of the British government, especially
employed on a peculiar service, the confirmation
of which I proudly established by my passport
setting forth that I was a certain "Ponto, Chargé
des Dépêches."

Now, if there be one feature of continental
life fixed and immutable, it is this, that wherever
the German language be spoken, the reverence
for a government functionary is supreme. If you
can only show on documentary evidence that you
are grandson of the man who made the broom
that swept out a government office, it is enough.
You are from that hour regarded as one of the
younger children of Bureaucracy. You are under
the protection of the state, and though you be but
the smallest rivet in the machinery, there is no
saying what mischief might not ensue if you were
either lost or mislaid.

I saw in an instant the dread impression I had
created, and I said, in a voice of careless
insolence, "Go on, I beg of you; send me back to
prison; chain me; perhaps you would like to
torture me? The government I represent is
especially slow in vindicating the rights of its
injured officials. It has a European reputation for
long-suffering, patience, and forbearance. Yes,
Englishmen can be impaled, burned, flayed alive,
disembowelled. By all means, avail yourselves of
your bland privileges; have me led out instantly
to the scaffold, unless you prefer to have me
broken on the wheel!"

"Will nobody stop him!" cried the president,
almost choking with wrath.

"Stop me; I suspect not, sir. It is upon these
declarations of mine, made thus openly, that my
country will found that demand for reparation
which will one day cost you so dearly. Lead on,
I am ready for the block." And as I said this, I
untied my cravat, and appeared to prepare for
the headsman.

"If he will not cease, the court shall be
dissolved," called out the judge.

"Never, sir. Never, so long as I live, shall I
surrender the glorious privilege of that freedom
by which I assert my birthright as a Briton."

"Well, you are as impudent a chap as ever I
listened to," muttered my countryman at my side.

"The prisoners are dismissed, the court is
adjourned," said the president, rising; and amidst
a very disorderly crowd, not certainly enthusiastic
in our favour, we were all hurried into the street.

"Come along down here," said Mr. Harpar.
"I'm in a very tidy sort of place they call the
Golden Pig. Come along, and bring the
vagabonds, and let's have breakfast together."

I was hurt at the speech, but as my
companions could not understand its coarseness, I
accepted the invitation, and we followed him.

"Well, I ain't seen your like for many a day,"
said Harpar, as we went along. "If you'd have
said the half of that to one of our 'Beaks,' I think
I know where you'd be. But you seem to
understand the fellows well. Mayhap you have lived
much abroad?"

"A great deal. I am a sort of citizen of the
world," said I, with a jaunty easiness.

"For a citizen of the world you appear to have
strange tastes in your companionship. How did
you come to foregather with these creatures?"

I tried the timeworn cant about seeing life in
all its gradations— exploring the cabin as well as
visiting the palace, and so on; but there was a
rugged sort of incredulity in his manner that
checked me, and I could not muster the glib readiness
which usually stood by me on such occasions.

"You're not a man of fortune," said he, dryly,